


Distant Memories

by Weldlys



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell, Brotherly Love, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Sibling Incest, Underfell Papyrus, Underfell Sans, Unhealthy Relationships, flowey is nice in underfell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 15:37:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11421006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weldlys/pseuds/Weldlys
Summary: With the resets, they could be anything. Brother, enemies, lover, and more… But whatever happen, Sans knew that he would always love Papyrus.





	Distant Memories

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually a weird idea that I had in my mind for quite a long time. The fanfic contest on Tumblr forced me to actually write it.
> 
> SheenaKazia beta read me. Thank you for your help ! ♥

_ “But don’t you love me ?”  Papyrus’ voice was mocking him. He knew the answer to that question. He was simply using it against Sans. To be sure that he won’t back off.  _

 

_ Sans froze. He did. He loved Papyrus with all his soul. But he felt so cold. All of this felt wrong. Not only because he loved his brother romantically. No, it was more complicated than that. He was denying himself to please him. He loved him and would do anything to make him happy. Even if he had to sacrifice his own happiness or his own opinion. He did not matter. Nothing else mattered. As long as Papyrus was happy.  _

 

_ “I do Boss. I love you.” His words felt hollow. He truly loved him though. Then why was it so hard to please him ? _

 

_ “Prove it then. Kill him.” _

 

_ Sans looked at the monster in front of them. The monster was pinned down to the ground with Papyrus’ magic. The taller skeleton had asked him to finish him. He was testing how far Sans will go for him. He had no regret using that love Sans felt. It just showed how much weaker Sans was. Love was for the weak. In this world, there was no place for love. It only made Sans easier to manipulate. _

 

_ Sans made a step closer. If he had to kill, it was only for survival. And now, Papyrus was asking him to kill an innocent. No one was really innocent in this world. But it was someone with a low LV like him. Someone whose only mistake was to here at the wrong time and place. But he was going to do it. For Papyrus’ love. Because he loved him. _

 

_ Sans raised his hands towards the monster. He was shaking. He hoped that Papyrus did not see it. He refused to disappoint him or to make him unhappy. He only hesitated for a second before he attacked. _

 

 

Sans woke up panting. What was this fucked up dream ? It was so weird and… and… It already faded away. He knew that Papyrus was in it. He knew that it was horrible. He was still slightly shaking. He clenched his eyes tight, trying to force his brain to remember. But he could not. The only thing that stayed was that uneasy feeling, as if he did something dreadful in the dream. 

 

Opening his eyes, he sighed. It will disappear. It was not real, this feeling will go away. He sat down and breathed deeply. The quivering stopped. He still had a knot in his guts, but he was a bit better. 

 

“Sans ! I swear, if you don’t go out of bed, I’m dragging you to your sentry post myself !” Papyrus suddenly shouted from the kitchen.

 

Sans could not help but smile. This was comforting. Everything was normal. Whatever that nightmare was about, it was just a dream.

 

“Coming Boss !” He yelled in response.

 

Sans got up. He needed to put on his jacket and he could join Papyrus. 

Mechanically, he put his hands in his pocket and he touched something that should not be there.There was a piece of paper in his pocket. Sans frowned. What ? He did not remember putting something in his pocket. He pulled out the paper and unfolded it. 

 

“ _ Bad ending. Try again.”  _

 

That was not his handwriting. And it was not Papyrus’ either. No one could have put this in his jacket without him noticing. That was weird. But he felt like it was not the first time that it happened. He could not remember when though. And more importantly, what did it mean ? A shiver ran down his spine, as he suddenly thought about his dream. He could not remember it anymore. However that horrible feeling stayed. It did feel like a bad ending. 

 

He looked at the paper for a second before he shrugged. It was probably nothing. Could it be some kind of prank ? Not knowing who wrote it was disturbing but not really important for now. 

 

Out of curiosity, he turned the paper. Something was also written on the other side.

 

“ _ Go to your station today.”  _

 

Maybe it was Papyrus who wrote it after all. It was the only person that always insisted for him to do his job.

 

He placed the paper back in his pocket. He was going to throw it later. He then teleported to the kitchen.

 

When he saw Papyrus, Sans had the urge to kneel. His whole body acted without him thinking. He bent down a little before he tensed up. What the fuck was he doing ? For a second, he felt like he had to do it. And then the feeling passed away. He raised his head to look at his brother.

 

Papyrus stared at him with a puzzled look on his face. 

 

“What the fuck are you doing ?” He asked.

 

Sans straighten up. Truthfully ? He had no idea.

 

“Anyway,” Papyrus continued. He chose to ignore that strange moment. “I’m going. I hope that I won’t find you slacking off at Grillby.”

 

Sans nodded, knowing that he will go to Grillby anyway. He waited for Papyrus to leave before he drank some mustard.

 

What he had done when he saw Papyrus was already forgotten. It was not important. He still did not understand why he tried to kneel, but he did not care. He chose to ignore what he felt. He silently finished his mustard.

 

Well, time to go to Grillby’s. Once again, Sans wanted to pass the day drinking at the elemental’s bar. Papyrus would yell at him but it would be the usual. And then, he thought about that paper in his pocket. “ _ Go to your station today”   _ it said. Everybody knew that he was almost never at his station. Why would it matter today ?

 

However, at that precise moment, he trusted these words. He could not explain why. When he first saw then, they were nothing. And now, he felt like he had to follow what was written. He did not hesitate as he teleported to his sentry’s sation.  

 

 

_ Everything was peaceful. They were on the couch. Sans was sitting on Papyrus’ lap, facing him. They looked into each other eyes. Love, affection, tenderness. That was what they could see. In this cruel world, they had found a way to love each other. They kissed softly. _

 

_ “I love you.”  Papyrus whispered. _

 

_ Those words. That was all Sans had been waiting for. He smiled. He was so happy. The world could end, he would not care. Papyrus was his world. As long as he was with him, everything was going to be fine. _

 

_ Papyrus tenderly cupped his cheek. He was smiling softly. _

 

_ “Come on. You are not going to cry every time that I say it, are you ?” _

 

_ Sans hadn’t realised the tears in his eyes. He wiped them off. Sometimes, all this seemed so unreal. And when Papyrus repeated that he loved him, he became a little too emotional.  _

 

_ “I’m sorry. I…”  _

 

_ “Don’t be sorry. That’s okay. I was just teasing you.”  _

 

_ This moment was perfect. Nothing could stain it. He will cherish it forever. _

 

_ “I love you too Boss.” _

 

 

“Sans !” 

 

He felt good. He felt warm. He did not want to wake up. His dream was already fading away, but he could still feel Papyrus’ arms around him. He was still feeling that love.

 

“Sans wake up !”

 

Sans jumped, startled awake. In front of him, Papyrus had his arms crossed. He seemed pissed off. A bit confused, Sans looked around him. Oh right, he had decided to go to his sentry station today.

 

Without thinking, he moved to kiss Papyrus. The royal guard stepped back, surprised by Sans sudden gesture.

 

“What are you doing ?” He asked. He did not quite understand what Sans was about to do but they usually kept their distance.

 

“ _ You are disgusting ! Don’t touch me. _ ”

 

Sans stopped moving. Where was that coming from ? He was certain that just now he heard Papyrus, but it seemed distant.

 

“Sans ?”  The real Papyrus, present in that moment, looked confused by Sans’ action.

 

Sans did not hear him. Suddenly, he found himself looking at some kind of memory.

 

_ He was on the ground. Papyrus looked down on him. He had stepped back, refusing to let Sans touched him. _

 

“ _ But Pap, I… I love you…”  Sans said. His voice was shaking. He could feel tears in his eyes.  _

 

_ This was wrong, wasn’t it ? He should not love his brother that way. He was disgusting. Papyrus had the right to reject him like he did. In his eyes, Sans could see all the disgust that he felt.  _

 

_ Sans hated himself right now. How could he stain his perfect brother with his disgusting love  ? He should not have told him about it. He should have suffered in silent. Everything would have been better than being rejected.  _

 

_ “Never approach me again !” _

 

_ Sans nodded without looking at him. He was not able to face him anymore. His tears ran down his face and fell on the snow. His heart broken, he could feel himself going numb. Nothing mattered now. He could die here. He did not care. He could not live knowing that Papyrus hated him.  _

 

“Sans !”

 

Sans jumped and blinked several times. He had been lost in some kind of distant memory. Papyrus’ voice was slowly bringing him back to the real world.

 

“You dare to sleep on your post  _ and _ you daydream when I’m here !”

 

“Sorry Boss…” He apologised. He did not really mean it. He was still thinking about that memory. He was not even sure that it had been a memory. It had felt so weird, close and distant as the same time. 

 

But just in the few seconds that he listened to Papyrus, the memory disappeared. He could only remember that disgust he felt towards himself. It was making him sick. He brought a hand to his eyes. He had been certain that he was crying. But he was not. He almost wanted to check on his soul, to see if it was cracked. He knew that it was useless. Just like his cheeks were dry, his soul was fine. Then, why did it hurt ?

 

Papyrus was still yelling at him but he did not listen. He was used to it. Moreover, this memory, or whatever it was, confused him. Maybe it was all a trick of his mind. But his feelings were still real. And it was all the more strange.

 

 

Sans yawned. It was time for his break. He called it a ‘break’ but he knew that he was not going to come back to his post. He would spend the rest of his day at Grillby’s. He put his hands in his pocket, preparing to teleport. But he felt a piece of paper in his pocket. He took it out and unfolded it.

 

“ _ Walk. _ ” 

 

He turned the paper. Nothing on the other side. There was just this word. It was not his or Papyrus handwriting. But it felt familiar, as if he already read this once. He could not remember when though. How this person had been able to put this in his pocket ? And why did they want him to walk ?

 

In other circumstances, he would have teleported. Just to annoy that mysterious person. They could not give him order and then expect him to blindly obey. However, he just felt like it was important to do what was written. He was not able to explain why he was feeling that way. He did not understand. But he did it anyway. He walked.

Sans quickly regretted it. His station was far from Snowdin. He should have known that he was too lazy to walk all way into town. He was thinking about taking a shortcut, when he saw Papyrus talking with the greater dog.

 

He was too far to hear them and he did not really care. Papyrus was a big boy, he could handle it by himself. But suddenly Sans felt anger.

 

_ Papyrus was his. So why was he talking to this dog ? He should only look at him, all the others did not deserve his attention. What if they stole him ? What if he fell in love with someone else? Truthfully, his anger was hiding doubts. He was just useless and lazy. Papyrus would probably be more happy with someone else. But he did not want Papyrus to leave him. He wanted to keep him for himself, trapped in the basement if he had too. _

 

_ Realising what he just thought about, Sans tried to breathe deeply. He needed to calm himself. Papyrus will never forgive him if he did a jealous scene with the dogs watching.  _

 

“ _ I love you Sans. I don’t want anyone else.” _

 

_ Papyrus told him this everyday. But he could not help it. Sans was possessive and jealous. He wanted Papyrus for him and him alone. And he also wanted him to genuinely love him. That was the reason why he said nothing as he watched him talking with the canine unite. He was not possessive enough to actually harm his brother. However, he could not help but think that it will happen. He will harm his brother because he loved him too much. _

 

“What are you doing here ?” 

 

Sans blinked, all his anger disappeared. He felt like he was back into the real world. What was that? Some kind of hallucination? But it felt so real. Not like this had happened just now. More like he already lived that moment and this was just a memory.

 

He looked at his brother. He did not know for how long he had been here, but it has been long enough for Papyrus to finish his conversation. He had not saw him coming near him. It was not good. Sans knew that in this world he could not be distracted like this. But he could not control these memories or feelings. He just hoped that it would not get too troublesome.

 

“You aren’t going to Grillby’s, are you ?” Papyrus said. He looked angry but also… defeated. He knew that whatever he would say, it would never prevent Sans from going to this bar. And he hated it. 

 

Sans grinned. “Na… I wouldn’t do that when I’m supposed to be watching for humans. By the way, I should get going, you know, just in case a human pass through that big door.” And with that he teleported in Grillby’s.

 

 

_ Sans breathed deeply. It hurt. But it would go away eventually. At least, for once he had a good reason to stay on the couch. He smiled. Papyrus could not really argue with him this time. _

 

_ “Sans ?”  _

 

_ Sans smiled disappeared. He hated to hear that worry in his brother’s voice. There was no need to worry. He was not going to die. For a moment, when that monster hit him, he had feared that he would. He would never forgive himself if he had to leave his brother alone in this world. But he was okay now. It did hurt, but he would survive. _

 

_ “I’m fine boss.” _

 

_ Papyrus sighed and looked away. When he acted like this, Sans always thought about their childhood. At that time, he took care of his little brother. Things were different now, but he could still watch over him. _

 

_ “Hey, come here bro.” He tapped on the couch next to him. _

 

_ For a second, Sans thought that he was going to decline. He could almost hear his excuse. ‘I’m the great and terrible Papyrus, I’m not going to sit down here with you. And you have to call me Boss ! ’  However, Papyrus sat down next to him, and cuddle against him. Sans was thankful that he chose the side where he was not injured.  _

 

_ “You scared me.” Papyrus admitted, his voice only a whispered. _

 

_ That picture of Sans taking the hit for him was still in his mind. He had been careless and that monster had taken advantage of that. Without Sans to help him, he would be dust by now. _

 

_ Sans heard him. He knew what he was thinking about. Despite his low HP he had not hesitated a second to protect his baby brother. _

 

_ “I remember you know.” Papyrus said.  _

 

_ “What ?”  _

 

_ “Those times when I was naïve and you had to protect me everyday.” _

 

_ Sometimes, Papyrus hated those times. He had been so useless when his brother was fighting for their survival. _

 

_ “I don’t regret a second of it.” Sans said. He was very serious. “Hear me baby bro ?” _

 

_ Usually, Papyrus would have protested. He was not a baby anymore ! But that moment was special. He said nothing. _

 

_ “Sometimes, I’m rough with you. But that doesn’t me that I don’t love you.” He whispered instead. _

 

_ This world was horrible. But they were a family. Nothing will change that. They will survive together.  _

 

_ Sans smiled. _

 

_ “I know bro. I know. And I love you too.”  _

 

 

This time, Sans woke up slowly. He took more time to leave his dream. For him, he was still at his house with Papyrus. He could feel the faint pain of his wound and Papyrus’ body against his. He smiled, enjoying that peaceful moment with his brother. And gradually, he became aware of his true surrounding. The chatting of the customer mixed with that familiar music.The odour of the grease. Yup, he had fallen asleep in Grillby’s again.

 

Sans opened his eyes.The dream disappeared, replaced by the reality. But he kept on his smile. He still felt happy, as if the dream affect his reality.

 

Behind the bar, Grillby was confused. Sans looked strangely happy and he did not really understand why. Sans often smiled, but this time the bartender felt like his smile was real. It was weird. But after all, he did not really care. There were things more important like...

 

“Are you awake now Sans ?” He asked.

 

“Yes, I am.”

 

He almost wished that he was not. Lately, his dreams were much more interesting than the reality.

 

“Then can you pay your fucking tab for once ?”

 

Sans grinned. The tab again? Grillby needed to stop hoping. He will never pay his tab.

 

“Sorry, Grillb’. I left my wallet at home.”

 

Grillby clearly did not believe him. But he sighed. He wondered why he asked in the first place. He will never get paid. He looked at Sans’ drink. Guess he would have to put this on his tab too.

 

Sans confirmed that when he only waved at him before he teleported away without paying. 

 

 

Sans had only teleported outside of the bar. He wanted to go home. And somehow, he felt like it was better if he walked.

 

He casually put his hands in his pocket and froze. He had been expecting to feel something in his pocket, something he was supposed to throw away, but it was empty. Why would he have something in his pocket in the first place? He did not know. Maybe he just drank too much ? It would explain why everything was strange today. 

 

He looked around him. Snowdin never changed. Everyday looked the same. But, he had the strange feeling that he already went through this specific day. But not only once, more like multiple times. Fuck, Papyrus was probably right. Sleeping all day, added to his drinking habit, was maybe not good.

 

And now he was seeing a smiling flower. Wait what ? He stopped moving  On the edge of the forest, on the border of snowdin, there was a yellow flower, waving at him.

 

Usually, he would have ignored it. It was probably some weird monster coming from the capital. But then he remembered how the little Papyrus would talk about his “flower friend”. Sans had never seen him. He never saw a talking flower, since the echo flower were not really talking. He had been scared that this monster would hurt his baby brother, but Papyrus always said that he was really friendly. And one day, Papyrus stopped talking about it and Sans forgot it.

 

But now that this monster was here, Sans was able to ask him some questions. Like how or why did they became “friend” with his brother. No one was kind without a purpose in this world. He approached the flower, who dropped his smile and looked a little apprehensive. 

 

And before he could say anything, the flowers spoke : 

 

“I’m the legendary fartmaster !” 

 

Sans stopped everything. That was really immature of him. Why would he… And then Sans realised what he had just said. How this flower could know about this ? It was a joke between Gaster and him. A sort of code that they made up for… time traveller.

 

“Who told you this ?” He asked, suspicious.

 

“You.”

 

“You are a time traveller.”

 

“Yes.”

 

And suddenly, Sans felt like this all happened before. A powerful feeling of deja vu overwhelmed him. He  _ knew  _ that it all happened before. 

 

“This is not the first time that we have this conversation.” He said. Not the second or the third either. It happened a lot more than that.

 

The flower nodded.

 

“Okay. What the fuck is happening here ?” Sans asked. Should he trust that flower? Maybe it was just using him. But, he was too curious now. Time travel. It would actually explain his weirds deja vu feelings.

 

“I’m Flowey. And I just want to help you.”

 

“Help me ? I don’t need help.”

 

What that Flowey wanted from him? No one offered help if they did not want something in exchange. No one was kind in this world.

 

“I want you and your brother to be happy.”

 

Sans tensed up. This flower knew nothing about his and his brother happiness. He was about to argue with him, but the flower spoke first. As if he knew when Sans would talk.

 

“Listen to me, I can time travel and you seem to be the one only that can feel it.”

 

That explained the weird dreams and these strange memories. They were strong, because they really happened, just not in this timeline. 

 

“We’ve been working together. We are trying to find the best ending for you and brother. I’ve left some instructions in your pocket. And I keep my save point here. That’s probably why you felt like you live this day more than once. It’s because you actually did.” 

 

This flower was answering all his question before he asked them. It was fascinating and a proof that he was really time travelling. Sans slowly relaxed a bit. It was nice to finally have an explanation for these weird dreams and the notes in his pocket. Moreover, what Flowey said was true. He would do anything for his brother to be happy, even if it included time travel. He was not sure why a stranger would help him though. And why he would accept that help.

 

“I know that you love him. And I’ve learn that you will love him no matter what. But… How do you want to love him ?”

 

He had no idea. He just wanted his brother to be happy. How was not a problem.

 

“You can have anything.” Flowey kept on speaking. “In one of the timeline, you’ve even conquered the underground and overthrown Asgore. I was there when Papyrus made you his queen.”

 

As he heard Flowey speak, Sans felt prideful. He could almost see Papyrus smiling as he put the crown on his head. They had done this together. They ruled together, being brothers, lovers and husbands. Sans remembered it now that Flowey talked about it. And the memory faded away, leaving only that powerful feeling.

 

“And we can avoid the “bad ending”. Like the one where Papyrus had to kill you…” 

 

Sans shivered. He could not remember what Flowey was talking about. But just hearing this eventuality, scared him. Papyrus killed him ? Sans was aware that their relationship was not the best, but Papyrus would not kill him right? But he did not know the circumstances. Flowey did. He could help him to avoid it. Just like he could also choose to lead him to it on purpose.

 

“Why would you do that ?” Sans still was not sure if he could trust that strange monster. They have already talked in different timelines, but he had no proof that it had been a pleasant conversation. As far as he knew, they could have argued violently. Flowey would have time travelled to try to convince him again.

 

“I don’t believe this world is only kill or be killed” Flowey said, quietly. There were sadness in his eyes. “I thought that I could arrange things with my power. But, you are the only one that I can help. I tried to help others and I can’t. It always finished badly. You and your brother are the only one that can get happy in this world.” 

 

Flowey seemed sincere. It was a really naive way to think. But somehow, Sans found that it fitted the flower. It was probably not the first time that he explained that to him. But was it enough for him to trust the monster ?

 

He pondered about it for a few seconds. Flowey really acted like he wanted to help them. He hadn’t talked about what he could get in exchange. Maybe he was really selfless ? It was hard to believe. But actually, Sans wanted to believe in this flower. He wanted to believe that he could be happy with his brother. They maybe did not really need that flower for that. But he truly wished for the best for his brother, and that was what Flowey offered.

 

“And it was nice, to see how you two managed to be happy despite the many different events. But now, I think that it’s time for you to move on. You need to choose what you want.”

 

Sans thought about it. Flowey was right. His scientific mind was really excited about time travel. But, he wanted his brother to be happy. They could never have a peaceful life, he did not forget where they were living. But he naively thought that as long as they loved each other, they could be happy. 

 

“And you won’t reset after that ?”

 

“No. I’m sincere. I just want to help you to be happy.” The flower said. “I can’t be. So at least, I want to know that my friend is.” He added, mumbling inaudibly.

 

Sans nodded.

 

They talked for a moment after this. Flowey remembered all the timeline that they tried. Sans just had faint memories and feelings about them. It was heartwarming to realised that most of this timelines were happy one. He knew that Papyrus loved him in his own way. But it was nice to know that this love was present through the different timelines.

 

And eventually, Sans found what he wanted. They talked about how it would affect him and Papyrus. Sans knew that he would have no memory of this conversation. But it still reassured him on what will happen.

 

“Are you sure that it is want you want ?” Flowey asked. He did not judge him. Sans made a pretty good choice in fact. He just wanted him to be certain. If something went wrong he would reset.  

 

“I’m sure.” Sans felt it.This was the perfect timeline. For him and Papyrus. 

 

Flowey nodded. And he reset the timeline. 

**Author's Note:**

> If someone did not understand, don't hesitate to ask question. :D


End file.
